Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1887-06-10

inc beasts would undoubtedly have crcpt
close enough TO make q spring. When |
turned about and sat down ON the block
Of wood the movement upset their calcu-
lations and mado them thmld for the mo.
ment. Under certain circumstances any
wild beast loses heart. A move which is
n surprise and not clearly understood will
make ours Of them ut once, and second
move will put them To ignominious night
When got sight Of the beasts tho
lion had half turned, as il to sneak
away, while the tiger was crouched
against the wall, md appeared shame
faced. Had risen up AMI swung my hat
and yelled both would have bolted, but
must confess that, taking my pain and
the general situation into account, ! was
badly ratified. couldn't think just what
ught 10 be done, and therefore did moth
Ing, This, after n moment, encouraged
the beasts, and then came such situation
as few men were ever placed in | had
opportunity 10 see here lion and q tiger
approach victim, waiting 20 be struck
down. | have wondered q thousand
times what could have come over me to sit
there with my gun within reach and my
revolver In its holster and make not the
slightest move 20 save my life while those
fierce brutes crept nearer and nearer.
think the poison bcnumbed and stupefed
me 10 certain extent. That is, while
my brain was never more active and my
eyesight keen, felt helpless to move, and
my mouth was as dry as if | had n fever.
knew my peril as fully us anyone could,
but when | thought of grasping my rifle
and sighting it the oXertion required dis
couraged me.
The lion was tho holder Of the two.
After making up his mind that | could
not harm him, he held his head well up,
swung his tail about, and advanced at
slow pace. | was under cover, and
he might have suspected n trap. But for
this he would probably have made q rush.
The tiger displayed exactly the same
characteristics as a cat creeping upon her
prey. lie crept, crawled, twisted about,
and sought To shelter his body behind the
slightest tuft Of grass. lie did not, how
ever, take his eyes of me for the tenth Of
a second, and tho nearer Ec came the
more his great lips parted TO show his
yellow teeth He was n. supple as
snake and nothing could be more grace
full than his movements could see his
tremendous muscles culver rs he moved,
and remember of thinking what power
he must have in his legs. Il was all Of ten
minutes before the beasts approached the
point where they realized each others
presence. You would have thought, with
only wall separating them, that they
must have heard or scented each other
The fact that they did not was probably
owing TO the excitement under which
they labored.
BY and by the lion was almost at the
end Of the wall, and near enough for his
spring lie crOuched down, switched his
tail in a nenacing way, and plainly saw
his talons dig into the earth as he gathered
his muscles for great effort. While
there was a settled determination on his
part 10 make food Of me, there was a
certain trepidation in his general de-
meanor. Ii was plain that he was mysti-
fled, but his ferocious nature prevailed.
The tiger kept abreast of the lion, and
he was the first 10 take the alarm lie
evidently scented tho lion, for lie reared
up, snufred the air, and then flung ont
paw and spat like an angry cat. This
noise startled the lion, and lie rose up,
showed his teeth and took his eyes OFT me
fer the first time Either animal could
easily have leaped the wall, but neither
attempted it. The tiger took on llercer
look and dropped some Of his stealth, but
the lion reached the end Of the wall first,
uttcring roar Of defiance and evidently
expecting TO meet an enemy The tiger
was four or five feet from the end Of the
wall. and the move he made was so quick
that my eyes could not follow it. As the
lions head showed around the wall the
biz cat made lightning spring, and the
next instant the two wore rolling over
and over at my feet, fighting rs only such
beasts can fight, and growing IN man
NJ ~ Z n "a my hair
then that strength came back to me, and
I rose up, but instead Of rushing away !
ran back into the building. Reaching the
rear wall stood there a prisoner and n
spectator. The first clinch lasted about
three minutes, and was characterized
by such ferocity as | cannot de-
scribe. While tho lion and the tiger
are probably natural enemies, | suppose
the fact that both had planned TO make
meat Of ne, and both felt themselves dis
appointed, aroused all their ferocity. Most
of the time during the first Clinch they
were rolling over and over like big ball,
tearing, biting and growing, and the
movements Of the tiger were much tho
quickest. They finally separated, each
backed off few feet and each stood broad
side TO me. | could see half n dozen blood
stains on the lions side while the tiger
had been terribly bitten about the neck,
and there was a bloody scratch on his
quarter They faced each other for about
a minute, the lion roaring in "a deep bass
and the tiger snarling like an enraged cat
Then, as swift m a flash Of lightning, the
tiger bounded through space and alighted
on the lions back. and again they rolled
and tumbled about. The fight was too
fierce 10 be kept up long, and too deter
mined not TO result in severe injuries
When the beasts finally struggled to
their feet the tiger had hold Of the lion
just back of the fore shoulder and he
hung there and worried the king as a dog
would a sheep. Twice the lion yclped ont
as if he had lost his courage, but he sud
denly made n grand eXertion. broke the
tigers hold and then turned and caught
him by the neck | thought all was over
with the cat. The lion actually lifted him
clear Of the ground and shook him, and
this time the tiger whined. After bit.
however, he twisted his body around until
his hind claws came into play, and then
the lion had TO let 20. There was another
rest for minute or so, and again the tiger
was the aggressive party. This time they